Sky’s Now TV throws down the gauntlet to online video providers and low cost operator bundles alike, adding broadband internet and telephony services to their Now TV offer. The service which will launch in early July features a new streaming box which, like previous devices, is made by long term partner and part subsidiary; Roku. The slightly larger DMA is now capable of 1080p streaming, comes with a digital tuner for terrestrial broadcast, and adds live pause capabilities.

Subscription video-on-demand (SVoD) service ShowMax, has expanded its reach to 37 Sub-Saharan African countries. The online TV and movie service, which is a subsidiary of multinational media group Naspers, launched first in South Africa in August of 2015, with the remaining countries launching in May of 2016.

On the new Galaxy S7 handsets, users are able to share their current location and estimated time of arrival (ETA) with others from the My Places widget and the Car Mode app for a limited time. A software update will bring the same features to older Samsung devices, like the Galaxy S6 or Note 5.

Disney's new SVoD service, Disneylife, launched in the UK on 23 November 2015. As previously detailed by IHS, the service includes support for Android, iOS and PC platforms. Up to 10 devices and 6 profiles can be registered with the option of tailoring parental controls for each individual profile.

Disney is to launch a new subscription based streaming service, DisneyLife, in the UK. The service differs from rivals such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and NowTV by supplementing video with digital books and music. However the monthly fee is set at £9.99, higher than Netflix and Amazon at £5.99 and NowTV at £6.99.

The BBC launched BBC Store on 31 November 2015 as a digital counterpart to the BBC Shop. Containing recent content, archived titles and some productions not previously aired, the BBC Store hopes to capture purchases driven by the shift in viewing to digital platforms. There will be integration between iPlayer and BBC Store platforms; purchased content will be listed under the ‘My Programmes’ section of the BBC iPlayer site as well as on the BBC store.

The Australian Government will impose a GST on digital products and services from 1 July 2017. The measure, announced as part of the Australian Federal Budget 2015, aims to ensure that the GST is consistent for both Australian and international providers.

Netflix has announced that its service will be launched in Australia and New Zealand on 24 March 2015. Consumers can look forward to original content, local as well as foreign series and films available on smart televisions, set-top boxes, games consoles, tablets and smartphones.

Deezer to offer High Quality Streaming on Sonos Globally Deezer, music on-demand service, and Sonos, wireless music system manufacturer, announced that it will be offering Deezer Elite on Sonos products outside the US.

Tesco is to sell, Blinkbox Music, to Australian online music service, Guvera. Tesco purchased the service from We7 in 2012 for £12 million. Although details have not been announced, Blinkbox Music is expected to be worth less than the Blinkbox Movies sale to Talk Talk, valued at £5 million.

Two weeks since taking The Interview to online platforms in the US, Sony reported over $31 million in consumer revenues from its digital distribution (over 4.3m downloads) and $5m in cinema distribution.

German music industry association, BVMI, and chart compiler GFK announced preliminary 2014 year-end results for the German music market. The overall market was valued around €1.48 billion, up 1.8% from 2013.

Redbox Instant will cease operations 7 October 2014 – after just a year and a half since launching the subscription video streaming service in March 2013. The joint venture from Verizon and Redbox offered instant access to...